There are approximately 49,058 cities, towns and villages in the UK. The disabled spend is around £212 billion per year. I wonder how many of these places have banned Blue Badge holders from their centres stopping them spending some of that money with struggling retailers? York has..
Chronic Illness
It’s OK You Admit Your Chronic Illness Sucks
This Is What Living With Chronic Pain Is Really Like
It Can Be Hard For Men Of My Generation To Talk About Their Feelings
By Mandy Appleyard in The Telegraph. Older people face a crisis of loneliness but even a quick chat can make a big, big difference. Here’s how JJ and Steve formed a connection through Age UK Bromley and Greenwich JJ, 80, is a retired construction worker from Eltham in London When my wife Madeleine died, […]
To Those Who Find My Illness ‘Hard To Understand’ When They See Me Smiling
By Tiffany Early in The Mighty. My husband and I had a conversation about how others perceive my illness the other day. It wasn’t a confrontational conversation — it was more the random musings that happen when you’re waiting for dinner to come out of the oven. Joe mentioned that a mutual friend had once […]
Whatever You Do Today, Let It Be Enough
By Jo Moss in A Journey Through The Fog. I wrote this post especially for ProHealth Inspirational Corner and it first appeared there on the 11th March 2019. “Your worth is not measured by your productivity” We live in a society that teaches us that unless we are pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone, […]
You Don’t Look Sick: ‘You Might Think I Look Better But I Still Feel Horrible Every Day’
By Laura Abernethy in The Metro. Amy Norris, 23, from Southampton has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis) (CFS/ME). As part of our, You Don’t Look Sick series about invisible illnesses, Amy chatted to Metro.co.uk about living with both conditions and how most people still don’t understand chronic […]
Challenging Insensitive Comments And “Who Has It Worse” Competitions
Developing Chronic Fatigue Taught Me To Live In The Moment
“Neither Dying, Nor Recovering”: Learning From ICUs To Solve ME/CFS And Fibromyalgia – A Synopsis
By Dominic Stanculescu in Health Rising. From Dominic I believe observations made in Intensive Care Units can further understanding of ME/CFS. Indeed, following a severe injury or infection some ICU patients fail to begin recovery for unknown reasons. This condition, termed “chronic” or “prolonged critical illness,” is characterized by neuroendocrine dysfunctions perpetuated by cytokines and oxidative/nitrosative stress. Regardless of the initial injury or […]
You Don’t Look Sick: ‘People Think I’m Too Young To Be Disabled’
By Laura Abernethy in The Metro. ‘But you don’t look sick’ is something that people with chronic illnesses often hear. Others judge them based on their idea of what disability looks like. Our series speaks to a different person each week about their experiences of living with a long term condition and how […]
The Best Analogy To Explain ‘Energy Debt’ With Chronic Illness
Why Friendships Can Be Difficult With A Chronic Illness
By Jo Moss in The Mighty. There is a saying that goes, “It’s amazing how chronic illness turns friends into strangers and strangers into friends.” Maintaining friendships can be difficult for those of us with chronic illness. It may be hard for friends to understand the challenges we face, and the limitations our ill-health places on […]
Struggling to Accept the Days When Illness Keeps Me From Doing Anything
I Believe You: Three Powerful Words For The Chronically Ill
By Laura Chamberlain in Laura’s Pen. Sometimes, you feel alone in your suffering and misunderstood. Sometimes, all you need is someone to say they believe you… I believe you. Those are three very powerful words. When I put together my post on what you SHOULD say to your chronically ill friend, I received […]
16 Everyday Tasks, And What They Feel Like For A Person With Chronic Fatigue
By Paige Wyant in The Mighty. One of the most common (and frustrating) symptoms those with chronic illness face is chronic fatigue: an overwhelming sense of exhaustion that can be debilitating, and is much different than “just being tired.” (It’s also different than chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, a separate illness with its own set of symptoms.) […]
The Struggle Of Identifying Pain
GABA and Glutamate in Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
By Adrienne Dellwo in Very Well Health. GABA and glutamate are neurotransmitters—chemical messengers in your brain. One is calming, one is stimulating, and they’re supposed to stay in balance with each other. So what happens if this balance is thrown off? Some research suggests an imbalance of these two substances may play a role […]
A Love Letter To Anyone Who Struggled To Shower Today
By Sarah Mariann Martland in The Mighty. This is a love letter to all those for whom showering is repeatedly a laborious exercise, physically, emotionally or both. To those who spend days putting it off because you know just how exhausting or painful it feels, right down to your bones, just to stand under the […]
No One Prepares You For The Grief Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Confessions Of A Chronic Fatigue Skeptic
By Shell Pettifer in The Mighty. “Chronic fatigue, my arse!” I have a confession to make. I have oftentimes throughout my life internally judged people for being overly dramatic. There, I’ve said it. I am a closet censure. I am guilty of internal eye rolls, doubtful compassion and quite frankly some completely uneducated […]
What I Hear When You Tell Me ‘But You Look Fine’
By Melanie Leong in The Mighty. Fairly recently, I had this weird experience where a person with a chronic illness threw the “but you look fine!” line on me. I am pretty certain I didn’t respond. In fact, I don’t really recall what happened afterwards because I was in shock. Isn’t it chronic illness code that we […]
Practical Solutions To Everyday Spoonie Problems
By Jo Moss in A Journey Through The Fog. Having a chronic illness means everyday tasks can be challenging, exhausting and painful. But there are steps we can take to make life easier, to limit the stress caused and to conserve our energy for more enjoyable activities. Here are some practical solutions to […]